It never ceases to amaze me how determined gamers can be to keep their characters from being dominated, charmed, controlled in any manner, or imprisoned. I shouldn't really be amazed. I expect I'm about the same way. But it sure is fascinating when you get reminded of it and, yesterday, it was my turn to be reminded of it.
One of the subplots I've got going in the Pathfinder Council of Thieves campaign that I'm running involves a succubus. One of the characters, ahem, got it on with her in order to obtain an object important for achieving the goals of the chapter being played out. She, in accord with her nature, dominated him and even bestowed her profane gift upon him as well (he chose +2 to his Strength). And, being someone who also DMs a lot, the player was willing to see where this was going to go. For my part, I was determined not to abuse this but milk it for all I could get out of it.
The other three players, however, when they figured out what was going on were determined to get the dominated character free of the succubus's influence. They tried multiple times to break the dominate spell, failing each time due to poor caster level checks. Admittedly, the spell was cast a higher level than the witch trying to dispel it and that means less than a 50% chance to succeed. But the dice were not being lucky in the slightest. Knowing this can't keep up, the succubus managed to dominate the witch a few days later. But now that TWO characters were under domination, breaking the enchantments became priority #1 - with a bullet.
That's all fine with me. I can do other things with that subplot and it may decline in prominence in favor of other subplot options. All gamemasters have to come to terms with the possibility that their prep work and plans will have to be put aside because the players decide to go off on a completely different tangent. That's part of what's so fun with role playing games. You try to predict what your players will do so that you can plan most likely contingencies ahead of time and be ready at game time. But no matter how well you know your players, you'll never be able to think of everything they can, you'll never have the exact same priorities as they have, and they'll always find ways to surprise you... at least a little bit.
I know that there are some sorts of game master who really don't believe that or who feel they need to plan or prepare for everything. I acknowledge that's fundamentally a difference in gaming style, but I can't resist saying that those GMs really need to stretch themselves a bit more in service to their games and their fellow players. Some of the best gaming experiences happen when players go "off script" completely. You may worry that doing so will disrupt the game (sometimes it can if the events lead to hurt feelings or abuse of other players) but usually that's not the case and a bit of creative work by the GM and other players can make a shift in directions an opportunity to shine.
As an example, back when I ran Oriental Adventures in the late 1990s, the characters were on a long slog through jungles and other rough terrain to find the general of a lost army who had gone nuts and cut a swath through the peasantry before heading out into the hinterlands. One obstacle they needed to deal with was a deep and wide river. Rather than look for a ford or boat, some decided to swim. Unfortunately, there were also venomous snakes in the river. The evil samurai in the party was stricken but was brought to shore alive if in bad shape. Now, this samurai had a pair of evil spirited blades that were, frankly, a bit scary. One of the characters decided he had to do something about it and stole the blades, intending to hide them in the reeds along the river so they wouldn't be found. He found help from at least one other character and they concocted a story that the blades were lost in the crossing. For a samurai, this theft wouldn't be a mere faux pas. This is serious business. The wu jen (wizard) in the party realized this and, while the party slept during his watch, used his magic to recover the blades. He returned them to the samurai who decided to keep them hidden. When they finally returned to the samurai's homeland a few weeks later, he said "Well, I can't be seen without these now," pulled out the blades, and put them on. When asked how he found the blades, the samurai returned "They found me!" And we (me the GM, the wu jen's player, and the samurai's player) watched the other jaws drop in amazement. And this event that could have split the party and derailed the campaign turned into a crowning moment of awesome for the samurai.
That's one of the major reasons I play RPGs. Those crowning moments of awesome.
One of the subplots I've got going in the Pathfinder Council of Thieves campaign that I'm running involves a succubus. One of the characters, ahem, got it on with her in order to obtain an object important for achieving the goals of the chapter being played out. She, in accord with her nature, dominated him and even bestowed her profane gift upon him as well (he chose +2 to his Strength). And, being someone who also DMs a lot, the player was willing to see where this was going to go. For my part, I was determined not to abuse this but milk it for all I could get out of it.
The other three players, however, when they figured out what was going on were determined to get the dominated character free of the succubus's influence. They tried multiple times to break the dominate spell, failing each time due to poor caster level checks. Admittedly, the spell was cast a higher level than the witch trying to dispel it and that means less than a 50% chance to succeed. But the dice were not being lucky in the slightest. Knowing this can't keep up, the succubus managed to dominate the witch a few days later. But now that TWO characters were under domination, breaking the enchantments became priority #1 - with a bullet.
That's all fine with me. I can do other things with that subplot and it may decline in prominence in favor of other subplot options. All gamemasters have to come to terms with the possibility that their prep work and plans will have to be put aside because the players decide to go off on a completely different tangent. That's part of what's so fun with role playing games. You try to predict what your players will do so that you can plan most likely contingencies ahead of time and be ready at game time. But no matter how well you know your players, you'll never be able to think of everything they can, you'll never have the exact same priorities as they have, and they'll always find ways to surprise you... at least a little bit.
I know that there are some sorts of game master who really don't believe that or who feel they need to plan or prepare for everything. I acknowledge that's fundamentally a difference in gaming style, but I can't resist saying that those GMs really need to stretch themselves a bit more in service to their games and their fellow players. Some of the best gaming experiences happen when players go "off script" completely. You may worry that doing so will disrupt the game (sometimes it can if the events lead to hurt feelings or abuse of other players) but usually that's not the case and a bit of creative work by the GM and other players can make a shift in directions an opportunity to shine.
As an example, back when I ran Oriental Adventures in the late 1990s, the characters were on a long slog through jungles and other rough terrain to find the general of a lost army who had gone nuts and cut a swath through the peasantry before heading out into the hinterlands. One obstacle they needed to deal with was a deep and wide river. Rather than look for a ford or boat, some decided to swim. Unfortunately, there were also venomous snakes in the river. The evil samurai in the party was stricken but was brought to shore alive if in bad shape. Now, this samurai had a pair of evil spirited blades that were, frankly, a bit scary. One of the characters decided he had to do something about it and stole the blades, intending to hide them in the reeds along the river so they wouldn't be found. He found help from at least one other character and they concocted a story that the blades were lost in the crossing. For a samurai, this theft wouldn't be a mere faux pas. This is serious business. The wu jen (wizard) in the party realized this and, while the party slept during his watch, used his magic to recover the blades. He returned them to the samurai who decided to keep them hidden. When they finally returned to the samurai's homeland a few weeks later, he said "Well, I can't be seen without these now," pulled out the blades, and put them on. When asked how he found the blades, the samurai returned "They found me!" And we (me the GM, the wu jen's player, and the samurai's player) watched the other jaws drop in amazement. And this event that could have split the party and derailed the campaign turned into a crowning moment of awesome for the samurai.
That's one of the major reasons I play RPGs. Those crowning moments of awesome.
posted by Bill D91 at 10:26 AM
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